


Fashion Judges

by Aidaran, StarTravel



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Diplomatic Relations, Drabble, Ficlet, Gen, Teasing, Tribbles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:34:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22601806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aidaran/pseuds/Aidaran, https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarTravel/pseuds/StarTravel
Summary: Julian and Jadzia are bored at an official meeting. This means nothing for Captain Sisko.
Relationships: Julian Bashir & Jadzia Dax
Comments: 11
Kudos: 77
Collections: The Babel Trek Open Project





	Fashion Judges

It was a known fact that translation devices during official events were rude, to say the least. They were prone to errors, added an annoying layer of noise, and showed a complete disregard for either official or local languages.

Sisko smiled as the diplomats and guests kept coming to him and talking, some taking only seconds, others trying to get his undivided attention for several minutes. Behind him, Julian Bashir stiffed a yawn for what seemed the hundredth time.

"Is that a hat or a dead animal?" Jadzia whispered in Unified Trill. The diplomats kept coming and coming, each grabbing Sisko's hand and exchanging pleasantries in Standard, Bajoran, English, Vulcan...

Julian elbowed her and made a face of affront, shaking his head quickly as he took a step closer to her. At least she knew how to prevent him from falling asleep. “Careful, one of them might know Trill and then your sense of aesthetics will have caused an intergalactic incident.”

"No, really, I so need to know if that thing on the Andorian's head is a real animal. Look, I think it moved." 

“Jadzia!” Julian elbowed her and tried to hide his laughter behind his hand. At least now he was fully awake. He also couldn’t help glancing at the hat, wondering if maybe it was moving just a bit after all. 

"Look at it and tell me it's not a tribble. Come on, I dare you."

“It’s — if it is, it’s a very fat Tribble.”

"I'm sure it ate all her hair, that's why he's so fat." she snorted, shoulders shaking as she covered her mouth with her hand. 

"Old man, please." Sisko muttered between gritted teeth in Klingon.

“Quite right. Balding is a natural condition for many species and it is not a reason to judge someone’s appearance.” she answered seriously, giving Sisko an apologetic smile that only earned her a quick grunt in return.

Julian barely contained his chuckle. Really, he wished he could talk like that to the captain and get off with it. He was sure Sisko would have him ejected from the Station if he tried that.

Julian shook his head and leaned in, biting his lip. This time he switched to Low Kardassi. While Jadzia was not fluent, she knew enough to follow him on this. “I do like that one’s coat though, the one with the brightly colored synthetic feathers.”

"I'm sure it'd make Garak cry. Really, don't waltz into his quarters wearing that."

"Old man."

“I’m just saying, we don’t want to deal with an emotional Garak on top of everything else.”

"Jadzia!" Julian was barely containing his laughter, gleefully biting his lip to keep from giggling. How did she manage to keep a straight face?

"Oh, now that Cardassian has style, Julian. Look at his... what's that, a shoe? or something he stepped on the way here?" She liked a challenge, so she switched to Klingon, wanting to see if he was able to follow.

“Jadzia! I think it looks ... very warm.” Julian threw out with a small smile, shaking his head as he tried to imagine Garak in them. The image alone made him chortle.

"Oh yes, I'm sure it's the epitome of cardassian fashion. Little yellow spots included."

“I kind of like those actually. They add a bit of life to his outfit.”

"I dare you to tell me something nice about that Vulcan's outfit. Come on, try it. Not even you and your bad sense of fashion can abide to  _ that." _

" _ Old man!" _

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll behave.”

"One of them could speak Trill, you know." Julian shook his head.

"I can switch to Simplified Romulan, then. I'm sure you'll be able to understand."

“I’ve studied it a bit, yes. But we should — this is a diplomatic meeting. We should at least pretend to be responsible adults.” They both snorted at that.

"Then they shouldn't wear tribbles in their heads."

"Why, ma'am, I think having my pet on my head is actually pretty sweet." The woman with the tribble wig smiled at Jadzia, her expression serene in a way that reminded him of ominously of Garak. 

It was clear that some of the guests were versed in trill after all, it seemed.

Jadzia paled a bit, eyes widening a touch. Next to her Julian had to hide his snickering behind his hand. She got so red her ears seemed to glow. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean any offense. Really.”

"No, no offense at all. Want to pet her? I was actually looking for responsible owners for her offspring, I'm sure you'll love to have one." The andorian woman smiled widely, switching to Offworld Trill dialect with ease.

Behind Jadzia, Sisko grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love!


End file.
